Tiger Woods' new lover 'was friends with his ex-wife Elin while they were still married'

Tiger Woods' new student girlfriend Alyse Lahti Johnston was friends with the golfer's ex-wife before they started dating, it has been claimed today.

Alyse's stepfather Alistair Johnston says the 22-year-old was on good terms with Elin Nordegren and lived next door to the couple's marital home where they had their infamous Thanksgiving meltdown in 2009.

Johnston, a Scottish native, is an executive at Woods' sports agency IMG and raised Alyse in the exclusive Windermere, Florida, enclave.

Close to home: Tiger Woods' new girlfriend Alyse Lahti Johnston, 22, (left) is said to have been friends with his ex-wife Elin Nordegren (right) while the couple were still married

'Tiger Woods has been my next door neighbour for 15 years and Alyse has known him all her life,' he told the Scottish Sun newspaper.

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'They are part of the same crowd that are the same age and go to the gym and out to dinner together.

'Do they spend time together? Yes', he added.

New romance: Tiger is said to have been dating the young student for the past few weeks

It is unclear how close Alyse and Elin's relationship was but they appear to have run in the same circles and met each other at several social events over the years.

But a former Ohio University classmate of Alyse's told RadarOnline: 'She sent a BBM to a mutual friend of ours saying she didn't consider herself Tiger's girlfriend. They were just having a good time hooking up'.

'She is a really nice girl, smart and super friendly. And she's also a bit of a wild child. She definitely likes to have fun', the classmate shared.

Family affair: Alyse Lahti (left) was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Florida last year - her stepfather Alistair Johnston (right) says she's been friends with Tiger for years

It has emerged that Alyse, a keen young golfer, was introduced to the superstar golfer by her coach.

The two have apparently been dating for several weeks and have been spotted lounging on Woods' super yacht in Palm Beach, close to where Lahti Johnston is studying.

Alyse told police she 'wanted to die' after she was busted for drink-driving last October.

According to an Orlando Police Department report, the blonde beauty said she felt 'humiliated' after her vehicle rear-ended a truck causing it to flip on Florida's busy Interstate 4.

Officers say the petite blonde emerged from her car with severely bloodshot eyes and proceeded to slur her words and stumble.

Bizarrely, she claimed she hadn't eaten anything apart from an apple for two days, and had only slept for 45 minutes in the previous four days.

Legal documents: Alyse claimed she had drunk two 'tiny' glasses of wine six hours before her DUI bust in the three-page public report of her arrest

Although a breath test reportedly later showed she was three times over the alcohol limit, the charge was later downgraded to an improper lane change after several court appearances.

She was represented by a high-profile Florida attorney.

On the night of the accident, Lahti Johnston's black four-door Infiniti had hit a white Toyota truck causing it to roll.

She told officers she had drunk two 'tiny' glasses of wine six hours earlier, the publicly available three-page report states.

During a roadside test an officer asked her to rate her own sobriety on a scale of zero to 10, with zero being sober and 10 being impaired. She replied: 'F******' 10.'

Remorseful: The Ohio State University student rear-ended another car and told police she was so 'humiliated' and 'wanted to die'

Alyse was barefoot during the series of sobriety tests and struggled to maintain her balance, the report states.

At one point she told the officer: 'I can't do it'. She then started to cry and stare off into the sky.

The officer noted that he had to call her name several times to get her attention.

He then determined she was drunk and took her to Orange County Jail where she smiled for her mugshot.

During the journey to jail, she reportedly told the officer: 'Can you tell [the] girl in the other car that I will pay for a new car for her and that I am sorry.'

Moved on: Tiger has apparently been romancing the young woman on his yacht near his new $60million bachelor pad in Florida

She also told the officer: 'I don't give a s**t, let's go. I need to be held responsible for what I did. I'm so humiliated. I want to die.'

Lahti Johnston, was officially booked on a charge of DUI with property damage or personal injury.

But the charge was ultimately downgraded to improper lane change - a traffic infraction - after she completed a DUI awareness programme.

Alyse's stepfather was one of the masterminds behind Woods' $60million deal with Nike when he was just 20-years-old.

He is married to Alyse's mother and although based in the U.S. travels to Scotland every month.

The young woman's father is former St. Louis Cardinals baseball star Jeff Lahti.

Split: Woods' five-year marriage to Elin Nordegren imploded in 2009 - the couple share custody of Sam, three and Charlie, two

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Tiger Woods' new lover 'was friends with his ex-wife Elin while they were still married'